The Face of Village India

The villages in India are growing towards a capable leadership for a better future. They've made India what it is today and somehow, the urbanization is trying to slow down the development of these pure sectors of society. They need a change and we have to bring it.

Fifteen years ago, when the then American president Bill Clinton drove down to Rampur Maniharan village in western UP, he had come there to open a women's polytechnic, funded by a prominent NRI. Today, the Bill Clinton school stands bright and shiny on same campus, among low- slung buildings that house laboratories, libraries and classrooms. According to the school president Rajkamal Saxena, there are 65 students studying under CBSE among which, 234 are girls. Besides the local folk, the affluent families across the social spectrum send their children to this institution.

The success story of this school in the area has given rise to a spate of educational institutions along the 66 km road from Shamli to Saharanpur. All of them promise to unlock exciting career options, especially for the landed class of the area. These schools sport trendy names and have sprung up in the years when the 42nd president of the US came calling. Sitting amidst sugarcane fields and mango orchards they present a picture of a society straining to change.

Despite such a positive social factor visible in the area, there is little evidence all round of infrastructure changes in the area. the roads are battered and dusty. The dream of an all weather road remains a dream. Steady power supply is unthinkable and traditional industries that once thrived in the area, are now on the decline. Added to these woes are the problems of governance such as the law and order situation. The discourse at public gatherings and among social groups is about growing tensions among communities.

According to the locals, people in the region are looking for a change. The driving factor between this urge for change is the youth. Most of the young men and women who have returned to the area have been educated in Delhi and have returned to work in their home town and for them the development of the region overrides all other concerns. Among the semi-agrarian middle classes, the call for a change is not through the improvement of the region's facilities but through the ballot box. They are eager for a change in the very government of the state.